About noon we were alarmed by the firing of a great gun from the ship; Mr Gore, my second lieutenant, was at this time commanding officer on board, and the account that he gave was this.  While some small canoes were trading with the people, two very large ones came up, full of men, one of them having on board forty-seven, all armed with pikes, darts, and stones, and apparently with a hostile intention:  They appeared to be strangers, and to be rather conscious of superiority over us by their numbers, than afraid of any weapons which could give us superiority over them:  No attack was however made; probably because they learnt from the people in the other canoes, with whom they immediately entered into conference, what kind of an enemy they had to deal with:  After a little time, they began to trade, some of them offering their arms, and one of them a square piece of cloth, which makes a part of their dress, called a haahow; several of the weapons were purchased, and Mr Gore having agreed for a haahow, sent down the price, which was a piece of British cloth, and expected his purchase:  But the Indian, as soon as he had got Mr Gore’s cloth in his possession, refused to part with his own, and put off the canoe:  Upon being threatened for this fraud, he and his companions began to sing their war song in defiance, and shook their paddles:  Still, however, they began no attack, only defying Mr Gore to take any remedy in his power, which so provoked him that he levelled a musket loaded with ball at the offender, while he was holding the cloth in his hand, and shot him dead.  It would have been happy if the effect of a few small shot had been tried upon this occasion, which upon some others had been successful.

When the Indian dropped, all the canoes put off to some distance; but as they did not go away, it was thought they might still meditate an attack.  To secure therefore a safe passage for the boat, which it was necessary to send on shore, a round shot was fired over their heads, which effectually answered the purpose, and put them all to flight.  When an account of what had happened was brought on shore, our Indians were alarmed, and drawing all together, retreated in a body.  After a short time, however, they returned, having heard a more particular account of the affair; and intimated that they thought the man who had been killed deserved his fate.[62]

[Footnote 62:  Savages in general, and more especially when in unfavourable circumstances as to the means of rendering life comfortable, shew little sympathy for each other; and accordingly, the principle of fortitude, which, as justly observed by Mr Millar, in one of his chapters on the effects of commerce, &c. “is diminished by the exquisite fellow-feeling of those who live with us,” is their prevalent virtue.  Every man is too much occupied by his own wants and desires to have any fine feeling to squander away on his neighbours; and thus every man learns to bear his own burdens without any expectation of assistance from others, who are of course equally loaded with himself.  But these New Zealanders, as we have seen, had so far advanced in the arts of civilization, as to have exhibited considerable social qualities.  The present instance of concern for their citizen, and of consideration of the justice of his fate, proves the truth of the remark.—­E.]